Fish-plate lock



(No Model.)

' M. H: DEVORE.

FISH PLATE LOCK.

No. 340,940. 1 Patented Apr. 27, 1886.

'- $10M; m aw UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MORRIS H. DEVORE, OF LAlVRENCEBURG, INDIANA.

FISH-PLATE LOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 340,940, dated April27, 1886.

Application filed June .24, 1885.

To aZZ whom it may concern..-

Be it known that I, MoRRIs H. DEVORE, of Lawrenceburg, Dearborn county,Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fish-PlateLocks, of which the following is a specification.

Various means have been employed to se cure the meeting ends ofrailroad-rails, but no great degree of success has as yet been attained,as the moving of the train over the rails and the wear of the ends ofthe rails and expansion and contraction loosen the fishplates and thescrew-bolts usually used to secure the rails. My invention overcomesthese defects, and I securely lock the lishplates and the railstogether.

In the accompanying sheet of drawings, making part of thisspecification, Figure 1 represents a top View of my fish-plate lock inposition, the head of the rail being cut away and part of thewedge-shaped pieces 0 0 being cut away to show the position occupied bythe bolt D when the latter is in position. Fig. 2 is a section viewtaken on the line a; 00 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 shows in perspectiveafront andside View of my improved bolt or pin. Fig. 4 shows in elevation the\vedgeshaped piece 0, and Fig. 5 shows in elevation the wedge-shapedpiece 0.

A A represent thetwo meeting ends of railroad-rails; and B B representthe lislrplates, one of which is placed on each side of the rail.

0 0 represent the two wedge-shaped pieces, which, together with bolt D,form the lock. The piece 0, which is placed next to the fishplate B,contains two elongated slots, to a, separated by the neck a. Thewedgeshaped piece 0 contains the boltholes b and the slots 1/. On eachside of the slots 1) the metal is cut away, forming an incline, d, oneach side of'the slot, running toward the bolt-holes b. To connect thesepartsB O G and the rails A together, I employ the bolt or pin D. Thisbolt or pin D is of peculiar construction, being preferably constructedas shown in Fig. 8--that is, with the neck 6 and the head 0, the underside of the head 0 having the beveled faces 0 6 The faces 0' e of thebolt D are beveled, so that they will readily travel over the incline dof the piece 0. The neck 6 of the bolt D ispresent, so that the bolt maywork in the narrow slot 1) of the piece 0.

My invention is applied as follows: Two

Serial No. 169,626. (No model.)

rails, A, are placed uponthe railroad-ties. An ordinary fish-plate, B,is then placed upon each side of the web of the rail, bolts D havingbeen pass (1 through holes in the fish plates B and rails A A. Thewedge-shaped piece 0 is placed next to the fish-plate B on the outsideof the rail, the bolts or pins D passing through the elongated slots a(L. The wedgeshaped piece 0 is then slipped on the bolts piece (1. Thepiece 0 is then struck on the end Y with a hammer, and the beveled faces6 of the bolt D will travel over the incline (l of the piece 0, and thenarrow neck e of the bolt or pin D passes up into the slot b and thefishplate is locked, the rails are securely fastened together, and thejoint is complete. Preferably, however, the keys h are present to keepthe wedge-surface formed by the pieces 0 G intact and in position. \Vhenthe joint is to be broken, the opposite end of the piece 0 is hit with ahammer until the bolts D are in the holes b, and then the pieces caneasily be taken apart. \Vhen the parts by constant wear and tear orexpansion and contraction work loose, the wedge-piece G can be driven ina little and the parts brought into proper position. Driving in thewedge-piece 0 takes up all space that may be left between any of theparts, and makes the joint almost as solid as it made of one piece.

\Vhile the various features of my invention are preferably usedtogether, one or more of them may be used without the remainder, and

the one specifically set forth.

'What I claim as new and of my invention, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is

The combination of the railsA A, fish-plates BB, wedge-shaped piece 0,provided with the elongated openings a and strengthening-neck a, wedgeshaped piece 0, provided with a series of bolt-holes, I), each having anelongated lateral slot, 0, the edges of which are beveled, bolts D,having neck 0 and head 0, the latter provided with beveled faces 6, and

specified.

MORRIS H. DEVOREQ Witnesses:

HEZRON HAYNE,

JOHN C. SIMS.

in connection with tish-plate locks other than keys h, substantially asand for the purposes D passing through the bolt-holes b of this

